SCHOOL NEWS

HARPUR COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCESLiz Rosenberg, a longtime poet, children's book author, and professor of English, will be making an extensive book tour throughout the Northeast to promote her latest work and first piece of adult fiction, Home Repair. Besides the promotional tour that will take Rosenberg from Vestal and Owego to Roanoke, Va., Home Repair has been designated as a Target "Breakout Book" for June, which means it will receive prominent display at Target stores across the country.

One of the founders of American avant-garde cinema returned to campus in April to showcase a free series of several short films and videos. Ken Jacobs, a founder of the University's Cinema Department and a professor for 33 years, came out of a six-year retirement to share his past and current works with the Binghamton community and to celebrate the rich history of the Cinema Department, which has grown so much since its formation in 1969 by Jacobs and Larry Gottheim.

Sungdai Cho, a professor in the Asian and Asian-American Studies Department, will spend the summer in his native country of Korea, directing a summer Korean language program. Cho, associate professor of Korean and linguistics, has been appointed director of the Korean Summer Institute in Critical Language Scholarship Program by the U.S. Department of State and the University of Pennsylvania. The program offers intensive summer language institutes abroad in 11 critical-need foreign languages.

Norman Lazaroff, 81, associate professor emeritus of biological sciences, died Tuesday, May 12. Lazaroff earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Syracuse University and his PhD from Yale University. He joined the Binghamton faculty in 1966 and retired in 1990. Augie Mueller, associate professor emeritus of biological sciences, remembered Lazaroff’s dedication to his profession, but knew another side of him as well — his love of the outdoors.

THOMAS J. WATSON SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCEKartik Gopalan, an assistant professor of computer science, has received a nearly $400,000 grant from the National Science Foundation's most prestigious program for young faculty to support a new computing project. Just one-fifth of applicants in NSF's Division of Computer and Network Systems received five-year grants from the Faculty Early Career Development Program. Gopalan's work focuses on "virtualization" in cloud computing, large clusters of computers used by organizations of all sizes.

Qinru Qiu, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was recently awarded a $409,000, five-year grant from the NSF's Faculty Early Career Development Program for a project focusing on reducing the power demands of multiprocessor system-on-chip designs. Her work, which will start in June, could lead to smaller computers that function more efficiently and use less power.

Hari Srihari, distinguished professor in the Department of Systems Sciences and Industrial Engineering, has accepted the position of dean of the Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science at Binghamton University. Currently chair of the Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering, Srihari is also director of the Watson Institute for Systems Excellence (WISE) and associate director of the Integrated Electronics Engineering Center (IEEC). Srihari joined Binghamton University in August 1988. He received his master’s and doctoral degrees in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Virginia Polytechnic and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia. Srihari assumed his new responsibilities on June 1, filling the position vacated by Seshu Desu, who is the new executive director of Binghamton University’s Center for Autonomous Solar Power (CASP).

DECKER SCHOOL OF NURSINGMore than 30 years after starting college, Michele Summers not only received her bachelor's degree in nursing, but also accolades for being one of the University's top students. Summers was active in the Decker School of Nursing, serving as a student representative for the school's Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and working as a research assistant on a tobacco control behavior study. Her efforts were rewarded this spring when Summers was one of seven University students and 238 SUNY students to receive the Chancellor's Award for Student Excellence.

At its last meeting of the academic year, the Faculty Senate approved three proposals to establish new programs in the Decker School. The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), the Master of Science in Psychiatric Nursing and the Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner certificate will each serve a need, according to Gale Spencer, Decker chair in community health nursing. The DNP is becoming a standard and will be required for accreditation purposes by 2015, Spencer said, and establishing these programs will provide continuity for the Decker School as students and practitioners transition to the new requirements.

COLLEGE OF COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC AFFAIRSKristina Krise, 24, has gone above and beyond in pursuit of her master's degree in public administration. She became a leader in the College of Community and Public Affairs' Department of Public Administration and has received the department's Distinguished Service Award, as well as served as president of the Graduate Student Organization's MPA division. The next step for Krise is Broome-Tioga Workforce New York, where she has worked in youth programming and has helped young people find summer jobs.